


meeting a stranger you've known your whole life

by ericawrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, this is s4 centric??? ig???, uhm its sad i think, we know nothing abt it but whatever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 17:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11764704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericawrites/pseuds/ericawrites
Summary: “Ready?” Katie asks, letting go of his arm. Matt takes a shaky breath.“No. Let's do this.”





	meeting a stranger you've known your whole life

**Author's Note:**

> i was talking on a discord chat w/ ppl and we started talking abt the shatt possibilities so i came up with this whoops
> 
> uhhh idk what else to say sooooo
> 
> enjoy!!!!

Matt’s mind is racing. He’s holding onto his staff nervously, trying to calm himself down. The hallway feels as though it’s growing longer, and he can feel his breathing hitch and his heart skip a beat in anticipation.

“Hey,” Katie says, placing a hand on his arm gently. He looks at her, his little sister who seems so much older than she had been he first left Earth, who looks to have gone through more than through so much more than she should have been. His heart aches.

“It’ll be okay. Not much has changed.”

He knows what she means. _So much has changed. Everything is different. Nothing will ever be the same. We’ll never be the same._

Matt sighs, his grip on his staff loosening slightly. “I know,” He says. “It’s just… It’s been _so long_ -”

Katie squeezes his arm. “I’m right here. Don’t worry.”

Matt nods, and when he looks back up, he realizes they’re reaching the doors. He’s not sure he can to this. He hasn’t seen him in such a long time, it feels like all their interactions, all the late nights and all the early mornings have been fever dreams.

“Ready?” Katie asks, letting go of his arm. Matt takes a shaky breath.

“No. Let's do this.”

The door opens, and a group of people all look in their direction. He hardly has a chance to try to recall who’s who when someone is right by Matt, lifting Katie into a hug. She grunts, but smiles and rolls her eyes.

“You scared us half to death! Do you know how worried we were?” He says.

“Hunk-” Katie grits out. “Please.”

“Easy there big guy.” Someone says, coming up to stand next to Hunk, who let’s go of Katie sheepishly. Matt recognizes him almost immediately. His mouth twitches into a small grin.

“Hey Keith.” He says. Keith nods in his direction.

“Good to see you.” He says. Someone slightly taller than Keith stands next to him as Hunk puts Katie down.

“Glad to see the both of you made it out okay.” He says, then turns to Matt and holds out his hand. “I’m Lance.”

Mat smiles gently, and takes Lance’s hand. “Katie mentioned you. Said you’re the sharpshooter of the team?”

Lance’s mouth curls into a grin as he lets go of Matt’s hand. His eyes dart to Katie, who’s glaring at Matt.

“Did she now? Aww Pidgey, do you actually care about me?” He says. Katie turns to glare at Lance, but there’s a small smile that Matt can tell she’s trying to fight.

Heavier footsteps fall, and Keith turns. Matt’s breath catches in his throat as he takes in Shiro, who’s standing behind the group.

Katie had mentioned that Shiro had changed a lot, even after he went missing the second time. He’s more built, and there’s a scar across the bridge of his nose. The tuft of his hair is white, a sharp contrast to the rest of his hair. The prosthetic isn’t too much of a shock, though it’s design looks impressive.

He steps closer, and Keith moves out of the way, pulling Lance with him. Hunk also shuffles away. Matt can feel his heart thump and his mouth dries up.

In the quiet moments, in the eye of the hurricane, Matt had guilty let himself fantasize about this moment. The moment where he’d be reunited with Shiro- his boyfriend- who he never thought he’d see again. He let himself imagine how Shiro would hold him tight, just like he used to in their down time at the Garrison. He imagined finally, finally getting the chance to kiss him for the first time in over a year, then getting to go home with Shiro-

“Pidge, that was incredibly risky,” He says, snapping Matt out of his trance. “But I’m glad you’re okay. And Matt…”

Matt holds his breath as Shiro steps closer, and he has to quickly blink away tears and try to keep him composure. He’s yearned and wanted this for so, so long and now he’s finally-

Shiro’s human hand clasps on his shoulder. Matt’s skin doesn't feel electric at the touch, just like it used to. His skin instead crawl, and he fights a shudder.

_No._

“Good to have you back.”

_No._

Shiro removed his hand. Matt can only nod, feeling his throat tighten up and his eyes water. He looks down, his mind racing with thoughts of _No, please, no no no no this is WRONG-_

Shiro leaves the room, and before Katie or Hunk or anyone else speaks, a sob is ripped from his throat, and he hurries to cover his mouth. His staff clatters to the ground, but Matt doesn’t care as he drops to the ground on his knees, eyes wide and tears falling. Another horrible sob slips through his throat and hands, tearing into the silence of the room. His chest aches, and the spot where Shiro put his hand feels cold. He cries, gasping desperately for air as his body shakes.

Katie is next to him, holding him in a hug and muttering nonsensical words that do little to comfort him. Matt wraps his arms around her, hands curling into fists in her shirt. He cries into her shoulder, gasping sharply as he does so.

It’s wrong, all wrong. Shiro’s touch was always warm, always welcome and wanted. He may have carried himself with authority, but there was always this sense of warmth that Matt felt every time they were together. It was a warm feeling that he felt every night when he and Shiro shared a goodnight kiss, and every morning when he would wake up to see Shiro staring at him, fond smile and soft eyes. It was a warm feeling that he felt every day whenever Shiro so much as looked at him, even for a split second.

Instead, Shiro’s touch was cold, a horrible contrast to the warm touches and confessions, the late nights and early mornings feeling even farther away that what they had before. All the warmth that he associated with Shiro is gone, gone, gone gone because all he can think is how cold and how empty Shiro’s hand felt, and how wrong it was that he didn't even think to hug him, or do anything more than a shoulder touch.

It’s a while before he’s calm again, and instead of having him stand, the other teens and two other people crouch down to his level, staying a good distance away. Katie is the only one close to him, touching him.

“Matt?” She asks.

“That’s not him.” Matt rasps, voice strained. He takes a shaky breath, shutting his eyes tight. He hugs himself tightly, and forces himself to make eye contact with his sister, whose eyes are wide in confusion. The others share similar expressions, watching Matt carefully. He swallows the lump in his throat and continues.

“That’s not my Shiro.”

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is jfcmcclain so follow me there!!!


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